All, Sharing the report. Hope you are enjoying the warmer weather. Sofia Hernandez (she/her/ella) Deputy City Attorney City of Durham 919-560-4158 Sofia.hernandez@durhamnc.gov<mailto:Sofia.hernandez@durhamnc.gov> www.durhamnc.gov<http://www.durhamnc.gov/> E-mail correspondence to and from this sender may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and can be disclosed to third parties. ________________________________ From: Amos Irwin <amos@lawenforcementaction.org> Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2024 12:03 PM Subject: LEAP publishes community responder liability report! Hi all, I'm thrilled to announce that after over two years of planning and research, LEAP has finally published our report on legal liability for community responder programs! Thank you so much for your part in it! Please read it here<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2flawenforcementactionpartnership.org%2fcommunity-responder-liability-report%2f&c=E,1,2YOZ6toZ6-XWJGQyxLOl7NOtC3Fev6WgKXe_HSgx_ae1rZx8omo20gYTdQtmFRZObxoMe1SSpUom3VBLq_CcH-MR3JprXAmDaOupvpKc1o4GJqM2UTvgICZvKg,,&typo=1>, forward it to anyone you think would be interested, and share using our social media content (sample text here<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sQQE_5SJxMhtXXHtYjBBoTFWR5oslqod5fJ6P6bd5xY/edit>, images here<https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BuZqXDSNoRhHq8doQCUzHlzbt2xkMzvI?usp=share_link>). We would love to hear your feedback and ideas on getting it in front of the right people! A short summary is below. Best wishes, Amos LEAP's community responder liability report To allow police to focus on serious crime, many cities are no longer dispatching officers to many low-risk 9-1-1 calls, such as disturbances, welfare checks, and verbal disputes. Instead, they now send unarmed “community responder” teams. Some city officials have wondered if, by sending these teams, cities could be increasing their legal liability risk. To assess liability risk, we reviewed case law and statutes related to first responders handling low-risk calls from the federal system as well as all 50 states. We did not find any statutes specifically governing community responder programs or lawsuits related to harm caused by community responder programs. By reviewing cases and statutes related to other first responders, we identified and investigated four sources of potential first responder liability: state law tort claims, federal constitutional claims, federal statutory claims, and workers' compensation claims. We conclude that by sending community responders to low-risk calls in place of police, cities reduce their overall liability risk. If a city official blocks a community responder program due to liability concerns, they are likely forgoing an opportunity to reduce the city’s liability exposure. We close by examining how cities can protect themselves from community responder liability risk through policies and training, insurance, and contracts. Amos Irwin Program Director Law Enforcement Action Partnership Amos@LawEnforcementAction.org (650)762-6671 [https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1UigMMZfz2aFM-Rj4VYkvSSjfzixBiEGs&revid=0B8FGQAaaHp8BK2d3N1hMWVIrMllzWFRmelBBV0IrNmZUVUFnPQ] [https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1UlrbJzIni-jOBI3IOvyhSONzsoag2VLB&revid=0B8FGQAaaHp8BT3RKbmJNNmVZQmxPOS9hRnVTTk5rQ1pNNkc4PQ] <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2flawenforcementactionpartnership.org%2f&c=E,1,dqWEwcArRbN_OmbuwSxC7y1GChjnIZVTtH3v859gv5vh-zlGO202GBuxwrCswYAwPtl7zUQLrDN1aD9uQO2ZgRnro-KtBRL6cRWAAqUE_9JxBcy29IPF4Xc4kWc,&typo=1> [https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=12jhGLavHtR5-2zWpXX7h2Hw84BrcxzNL&revid=0B8FGQAaaHp8BV2NYa3hRQ09VZ2xvbWRwQnR5RS9MYlh1NVdvPQ] <https://twitter.com/PoliceForReform> [https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1jLXisw3AQV4Ef3YV2v0OHB08lmy5zv-M&revid=0B8FGQAaaHp8BaXlKbUJscEREZ0NPcEJ1T1FvdEVNQTd3R1ZBPQ] <https://www.facebook.com/LawEnforcementAction> [https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=13dYfNgavRpH3KQhb_XScaBWaByGsP-HX&revid=0B8FGQAaaHp8Bbm5FTk9lcnpEc0FmcDBjdDVycCt2NEltS1I0PQ] <https://www.linkedin.com/company/law-enforcement-action-partnership/>